


Father Knows Best

by TheTimelessChild0



Category: Castle (TV 2009)
Genre: Bed-Wetting, Embarrassment, Fluff and Humor, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Episode: s6e12 Deep Cover, spy dad jackson hunt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24056215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTimelessChild0/pseuds/TheTimelessChild0
Summary: Jackson Hunt gets a rare opportunity to be a father, finally. Though, part of him wished the circumstances were different.
Kudos: 1





	Father Knows Best

Alexis felt inclined to turn on her stopwatch in the midst of all the hugging happening in the Castle family that Friday. 

Castle thought he’d never see his father again, at least not for a few years, until the next terrible thing happened. So he was rendered completely speechless when said father showed up at his door only the day after the Gemini investigation was closed. 

“I reported back to my superiors by phone for once in my life, so my weekend’s wide open,” Hunt explained. 

******

Despite his clandestine career, Jackson hinted several juicy tidbits about his work, mostly surrounding cases that were closed. Martha was pleased to see that her  _ chatty _ chicken tenders worked on deep cover operatives. 

Afterwards, he went upstairs to unpack in the guest room. Random surveillance of the area meant he wasn’t done “unpacking” until 2 hours had passed. 

A strange urge hit him. One that told him to check that his son had gone to bed. As in, his  _ 37-year-old _ son..

Unsurprisingly, he was in the living room watching TV. 

“What are you watching?” he asked kindly. 

“The better question is what we  _ were  _ watching,” Alexis corrected. “I still can’t believe this is the first time Dad’s seen Godzilla,” 

Hunts right eyebrow shut up a tenth of a millimetre as he heard the name of the film.

“I never got around to it, it’s not that old, I missed it in theatres,” Rick defended himself. 

“And on VHS, don’t forget,” Martha pointed out. “The leader of the creative writing club at Faircroft Prep, invited him to a sleepover when he was 12..” she began, but Castle signalled for her to shut up, shaking his head and staring intently at her. 

“Oh right, well nevermind, he missed it, end of story,” 

“I always hated that kid, Louis Lenford was his name..always thought he was better than everyone else,” Castle complained. 

“And then he died in that car crash..bet St Peter didn’t think so,” Martha noted.

Jackson nodded along with interest. While internally, he was considering his options. 

* * *

“Trying to Jedi Mind Trick it onto the page?” he remarked, checking his clock to verify that it was indeed, past the bedtime of middle-aged mystery writers.

“You know, we’re not in Paris anymore, you don’t have to creep up behind me anymore,” Castle sighed, getting his heartbeat to slow down. 

“I don’t think I’m the one scaring you. That’d be the CGI T-Rex, if I’m not mistaken,” Hunt hinted. 

“What are you talking about?” Rick asked, genuinely confused.

“I’m your father, Rick. I remember what movies were around when you were 12. And which ones were your jam. You missed the sleepover because your friends were going to watch that movie,” his father said matter-of-factly. 

Castle looked down in thought. If his father knew that..why didn’t he know what  _ really happened _ ?

“I can leave the door ajar if it would help,” he offered kindly. 

“That’s not necessary..maybe I’ll get chapter ideas in my sleep,” Castle protested, shutting down his laptop and leaving the room. Jackson couldn’t resist tucking in the comforter extra snug. He made sure to leave the upper right flap folded inwards, like a sleeping bag. It was what Richard preferred when he was younger...

Next thing that he did, was go downstairs, under the guise of getting his laptop, which he actually did leave on the counter, only to also slip some cleaning gloves from the cabinet under the sink, for later. 

***********

A smirk appeared on Castle’s face, as he cautiously crawled into the bed that  _ someone _ had made for him. He had to shake away a fleeting fear of his new wonderful father figure disappearing again. He had contacts at the CIA who could find him if that happened. 

His father came by to say goodnight, leaving the door basically closed. 

_ You are not scared of a fake movie monster, you are not scared of a fake movie monster _ , he repeated, staring at the ceiling. Castle turned to the side to fall asleep, and then heard his father step out of the bathroom, move towards his door and open it slightly. 

Rick was out like a light in seconds. 

* * *

Unbeknownst to him, when his father had prepared the bed, the preparations included a motion sensor and a small listening device inside the mattress. At roughly 2 AM the first of the 2, beeped, and woke Jackson up. 

“Well, there goes that prayer,” he mumbled, grabbing his gloves. Sticking his head out of the door silently, he heard his son whimpering. 

_ Apparently, he  _ **_was_ ** _ scared of a fake movie monster. _

It wasn’t exactly easy for Castle to deny the evidence. The sweat on his brow, the tremble in his hand, the  _ wet bedsheets _ ..

He tore them off the bed and tossed them on the floor. He wanted to be clean, and he wanted to be unconscious. In that order.

Once the bathroom door closed, the bedroom door creaked open. The shower was loud enough to hide it. Hunt, wearing his socks, shuffled carelessly, but swiftly into the room. He picked up the clothes and sheets, replacing both items, with clean counterparts. Then he went to the washing machine. 

By the time Castle was dry, at least _physically_ , Jackson Hunt’s door clicked shut.  _ Mission Complete.  _

He hadn’t been mistaken, before. He knew what really happened at that fateful sleepover. Castle didn’t ditch it. He left early. Peer pressure translated to pee pressure. He’d gone to sleep with the lights turned off, as all his classmates were no longer afraid of the dark. Which meant he had been too spooked to go to the bathroom beforehand. And the problem didn’t end there. Martha even took her son to the doctor to find out why his childhood bedwetting problem had resurfaced during _puberty_. A quick stop at Wal-Mart was all that was prescribed. The cashier three registers behind them was Jackson in disguise. A disguise that didn’t hinder his eyesight. 

He would never forget the deer in headlights look on Rick’s eyes that day. It was one of many days he’d wished he could hug his little boy. 

***

Castle stepped out of the shower, onto a pair of PJs. The soaked sheets were gone, as were his equally soaked clothes. He stopped, taking it in.  _ How did his father know? _

The door was still ajar, with one noticeable change. There was a white slip of paper keeping it that way. He picked up the note and read it, now fully dressed in his second favourite pyjamas. With Darth Vader on them.

The note read: 

_ If I had a time machine, I would go to Louis Lenford's house with a bowl of warm water and a sniper’s video camera. _

_ Dad  _

Castle chuckled. 

“Thanks, Dad,” he whispered to himself. 

“No problem, sport,” Jackson grumbled from his desk, taking off his headset. 

_ It’s what fathers do… _

The End.


End file.
